Filipe Luis reveals Manchester City talks before move to Flamengo
Former Atletico Madrid left-back Filipe Luis held talks with Manchester City before joining Flamengo this summer.
The Brazil international returned to his homeland after his Atletico contract expired at the end of June.
However, the ex-Chelsea defender could have ended up at Manchester City having held discussions with the Premier League champions about a move to the Etihad Stadium.
“At the end I had three or four proposals in hand, and then you have to choose,” Luis told Globo Esporte.
“I closed some important doors, like Borussia Dortmund, which was a very good offer but I didn’t feel it in my heart.
“From January until March I had [talks with] Manchester City, but it didn't work out. There were offers from Turkey, China and a number of countries that called, but none of them filled the heart at that time.”
Manchester City signed Joao Cancelo from Juventus earlier this month to provide competition at full-back.
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Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).